According to a report by Kyodo News on the 18th, recently declassified U.S. official documents show that during the Cold War in the 1970s, the U.S. nuclear war plan against the Soviet Union and China involved U.S. troops stationed in Japan. At that time, the U.S. Air Force stationed at Iwakuni Base in Yamaguchi Prefecture had conducted multiple simulated hydrogen bomb drops on targets in Okinawa (the Ryukyu Islands).

The report states that the declassified document is an official record of the U.S. military from 1970 to 1974, produced by the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing and its subordinate units, which were based in Iwakuni. This document was previously kept in the U.S. National Archives.

Copy of the declassified document, Kyodo News

It has been confirmed that the air wing began executing nuclear war preparedness tasks based on the "Single Integrated Operational Plan" (SIOP) from July 1971. The aircraft of the 211st Attack Squadron, 311th Attack Squadron, and 533rd All-Weather Attack Squadron frequently flew to the U.S. military facilities in Naha (now Naha Airport), confirming the procedures for carrying nuclear weapons, and continued to conduct simulated hydrogen bomb drop training in the surrounding areas. The documents even show that U.S. military aircraft conducting nuclear strike training had experienced plane crashes.

Notably, the time frame of this declassified document coincides with the period when the United States chose to "transfer" the administration of Okinawa to Japan. Previously, because Okinawa had long been under U.S. management and had nuclear weapons deployed, some people in Japan opposed taking over the administration of Okinawa from the U.S. In response to this issue, then-Japanese Prime Minister Sato Eisaku publicly proposed the "Three Non-Nuclear Principles" - "not possessing, not producing, and not introducing nuclear weapons" - in 1967, aiming to dispel concerns within Japan about taking over Okinawa.

Additionally, the Japanese government stated in a parliamentary session in April 1972 that it could not confirm whether there were U.S. military units in Japan capable of using nuclear weapons. In March 1975, then-Prime Minister Tanaka Fukuda said he "did not believe there were nuclear weapon forces in Japan." The information in the declassified documents clearly contradicts the Japanese government's previous official statements.

Professor Takumi Nakajima, a professor at Kyushu University who is familiar with U.S. nuclear policy, pointed out: "This is the first time we have learned that U.S. forces in Okinawa maintained a nuclear strike posture."

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Original: toutiao.com/article/7585085940150977078/

Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.